Tailpiece for banjos or violins



(No Model.)

H. O. NICHOLS. TAILPIEOE FOR BANJOS OR VIOLINs.

No. 676,606. Patented Feb. 9,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT QEEicE.

HENRY O. NICHOLS, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

TAILPIECE FOR BANJOS OR VIOLINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,606, dated February9, 1897.

Serial No. 593,015. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. NIcHoLs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norwich, New London county, State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tailpieces for Banjos,Violins, &c., which improvements are fully set forth and described inthe following specification, reference being had to the accompanyingsheet of drawings.

My immediate object is to produce a tailpiece for banjos, guitars, andthe like instruments for use in securing the strings of gut or gimp ofsuch instruments, which tailpiece shall be of simple construction,easily struck up from sheet metal, and which, by reason of its peculiarconstruction, may be more easily used than tailpieces of this class nowin common use.

To explain my invention clearly, I have pro vided the annexed drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of a portion of a banjo-head having myimproved tailpiece in use therewith, and Fig. 2 shows in elevation thevarious elements of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 1 on line co m.Figs. 4, 5, and 6 illustrate progressive steps in the process ofsecuring a string end to one of the pins of the tailpiece.

Referring to the drawings, the letter a denotes a banjo-head, ofsheepskin or like material, secured at its edge to a ring I), whichlatter, when forced downward by a band 0, serves to stretch the head aacross a hoop d, the band 0 being controlled by the ordinary screwadjustment. The construction of the adjusting devices and the manner ofoperating the same are well known and need no detailed description.

My improved tailpiece is formed, preferably, of a piece of sheet metaldoubled upon itself, forming two substantially parallel portions 6 6 theformer of which is of somewhat greater length than the latter. Near itsfree end the part c is bent downward and then again parallel with thehead a, as at 6 The free end of portion 6 is enlarged somewhat, forminga flaring plate 6, upon which are mounted pins f, to which the strings gare secured.

My tailpiece e is secured to the banjo by means of the usual rod h,adjustably mounted in a boss 70, projecting from the banjo. Verportion efirmly on the shouldered end of rod h. The free end of the short arm 6is of such length that it abuts the band 0 when the strings are drawntaut, thus preventing the undue springing of the rod h. By suitablyadjusting the nut h, the rod h and the con nected tailpiece may beraised or lowered to bring the plate 6 into proper relation to thebanjo-head, it being desirable, ordinarily, to carry the string endsdown as near the head as possible. Secured to the plate 6 near its frontedge, are posts or studs f, one for each string, and each of said studsis drilled or otherwise perforated, as at f, to receive the string.

In the act of stringing up the banjo the end of the string is insertedin hole f at the side nearest the bridge, and as said string end passesthrough the post it engages the inclined surface e of plate e and saidend is thereby guided upward, as seen in Fig. at. Vhile in this positionthe string is wrapped around the post and carried under theupwardly-projecting end, as seen in Fig. 5. It should now be noted thatpost f .is reduced in diameter just below the point where it isperforated, so that when the coiled spring is drawn tightly around thepost it rides upward and binds the projecting end portion of the stringfirmly against the upper wall of the openingf, and it will thus be seenthat the binding-grip of the coil upon the string end will beproportionate to the tension on the string, rendering it impossible forthe string end to be drawn through the post, no matter how great thetension may be.

In some instances, as, for example, when gimp strings are used, thestring may be coiled a second time around the post and across theinitial coil, as in Fig. 6, but usually this is not necessary.

My described device is found to be of do cided advantage whenever itbecomes necesszn'y to nttneh u string hurriedly, as it is 0111;,necessary to push the string end through the hole f and then eoil. itone or more times LlOlUHl the post. 3 {eanuhile the i 1101 in ed pa rt0; of plate 0 mitonnttieelly guides the string end upward, so that thecoil may he passed under said end Without having to adjust or even touchsaid end.

My device is also economical in that only a small part of the string isrequired to insure the positive clamping ol. snid string.

Having described my invention, I elnim- 5 in a tailpiece lor banjos itplate doubled upon itself to form parallel members that are mounted upon{L rod secured to the l zu1johead, the free end of said plate beingprovided with perforated posts all being combined substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

Witnesses:

FRANK 1L ALLEN, lllAY F. Rrienin.

